THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
A MOSLEM GIRL IN THE CITY WHERE THE JEWS AWAIT THE MESSIAH
Race, religion and language have woven strange patterns into the life of Safed. Algerians,
who followed Abd el Kader into exile; Spanish rabbis, driven from their homes in Iberia; Polish
Jews, protected by Austria; Circassians, fleeing the Christianization of the Caucasus-all have
sought refuge in this northernmost city of Palestine. Here in 1563 the Ashkenazi brothers set up
the first printing press in the Holy Land. Here the Sephardim Jews still live in polygamy. The
site of the castle which Saladin had difficulty in reducing and where Napoleon's troops found
shelter is now a forest preserve.
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